Initiate
A video introduction using illustrations, personal stories, metaphors, or active learning examples to begin the discussion.
Interact
After the video, prompts are supplied for thinking and sharing with others personal perception and experience. This opening activity prompts participants to think about and relate to the topic, and to share with others
Have you noticed how often something is called new when it is not entirely new at all?
The phrase “turn over a new leaf” did not originally refer to a leaf on a tree, but to turning a page in a book. The story continues, but the page has turned. That helps explain many of the ways we use the word new.
A new chapter is still part of the same story.
A fresh start is the same life approached differently.
A new routine is often old habits rearranged.
A new version of me is the same person with new decisions.
Think about these examples:
“I’m starting a new semester.”
“I got a new car.”
“I moved into a new apartment.”
“I bought a new phone.”
“I started a new job.”
In each case, something may be new to you without being entirely new in itself.
For many people, new means renewed, embraced, or newly committed. As you read Jesus’ words about a new command, ask what is truly new. Love was not unknown before. What was new was the way Jesus embodied it and called his followers to live it.
Insight
The Bible discussion begins with a careful reading of the whole passage, either from your own Bibles, or from the provided images below.
Then participants are to ask:
- What is going on in this passage of Scripture?
- What are the key words and phrases? Highlight them.
- Why do you think this passage is included in the Bible?
- What does it contribute to our “knowing Christ” and “living in Christ”?
Jesus gives what he calls a new command: “Love one another as I have loved you.” Love had long been commanded in Scripture (Leviticus 19:18), yet the measure has changed. The standard is no longer simply loving a neighbor as oneself but loving as Jesus loves. What does that mean? The next hours will answer the question. “Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). His love will move steadily toward the cross.
Jesus also says that love will be the public evidence of discipleship. Not knowledge, position, or certainty, but love. One might ask: if someone watched your life, what would persuade them that you belong to Christ?
Peter then shifts the conversation. Instead of asking about love, he asks where Jesus is going. His loyalty is sincere but untested. “I will lay down my life for you,” he says. Yet Jesus gently reveals the truth: before morning Peter will deny him three times (Luke 22:31–34).
The contrast is striking. Jesus will give his life in faithful love. Peter believes he would do the same, and one day he will. But in this moment, he sees his loyalty more clearly than his weakness.
Insight Out
A parting video clip with a personal invitation to apply the message to “knowing Christ” and “living in Christ” in the coming week.